A deep dive into dairy

DE PERE, Wis. – Students at West De Pere High School cannot get enough of the dairy product options available at Phantom Perks café. New this school year, the grab-and-go on-site café opened September 2022. Every day, kids are lining up for hot chocolate milk, iced coffee lattes, yogurt parfaits and smoothies, which are served as part of breakfast and lunch offerings.

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“It was always my dream to have a coffee shop, and I was so excited when we were given the space at the high school to make it a reality,” said Jennifer Tilot, nutritional director for the West De Pere school district. “The kids absolutely love it, and the school is going through a lot more milk.”
From September 2022 through February, West De Pere High School used 156 gallons of milk, 54 quarts of whipping cream and 1,020 pounds of yogurt. They sold 666 hot chocolate milks, 707 smoothies and 1,209 yogurt parfaits.
“We didn’t have any of this before,” Tilot said. “We only had cartons of milk. It’s nice to increase our dairy usage quite a bit by opening up this café.”
Tilot transformed a cement block room centrally located between the school’s two lunchrooms into a rustic one-stop shop where students can purchase these dairy-rich products along with grab-and-go meals.
Lattes are the most popular item on the menu. The latte recipe consists of four ounces of 2% milk, four ounces of cold brew coffee and three ounces of vanilla latte. There is also a selection of sugar-free syrups kids can pump into their iced coffees.
The Phantom Perks café has many regulars. Elli, a sophomore, comes to the café daily to buy lattes, while another sophomore, Leah, buys lattes and smoothies every day. Sophomore Gracie comes to the café for lattes on a regular basis as well. Joe, who is also a sophomore, is a latte lover who likes to top off his drink with crushed Oreo cookies.
“The prices are good, the people are nice, and they make good lattes,” Gracie said.
Tilot and her team offer different flavored lattes for holidays and special occasions. For St. Patrick’s Day, they offered three festive flavors with names like the Nutty Irishman and Pot of Gold.
“We like doing fun things like this for the kids, while still getting them to drink milk,” Tilot said.
On March 23, Tilot and her staff handed out strawberry-flavored smoothie samples containing yogurt, milk, unsweetened strawberries and strawberry puree. Several kids came back to buy a smoothie after trying a sample.
“The smoothie machine just cranked up today,” Tilot said. “It was here when I started, and I said let’s do something with it.”   
Tilot is hoping to make a green smoothie, featuring spinach, apples, yogurt and milk. Athletic coaches are also asking for a protein smoothie which Tilot said the school will add to its menu this spring.  
In the past, smoothies were blended and put into cups, but Tilot is moving away from prepackaged smoothies.
“Smoothies come out fresh from the machine, and the kids can add toppings,” she said.
Angel, a junior at West De Pere High School, tried a smoothie for the first time that day.
“I liked it a lot,” she said. “It’s really good, and I would come back for more.”
Tilot’s desire to offer more dairy products at West De Pere High School sprouted from her previous job in the Wrightstown Community School District. She was involved in the Fuel Up to Play 60 national wellness program and consistently promoted dairy in the schools.
“We were surrounded by farms and toured farms, and I always wanted to promote local dairy,” Tilot said. “I’m a city girl, and I found it so interesting.”
West De Pere High School worked with Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin to source some of the equipment, such as the milk warmer used to serve hot chocolate milk. Similar in taste to hot cocoa, students can also add whipped cream to this chocolatey beverage. Tilot has also used the milk warmer to make mocha milk.
“We were a test site for that product,” Tilot said. “It’s newer technology utilizing a milk barrel in which kids pour the milk from a tapper.”
Café West is another shop in the school that recently opened, and like Phantom Perks, it features different foods than the main lunch lines that are well-liked by students. Café West’s yogurt bar allows students to build their own yogurt parfait. Each bowl contains eight ounces of yogurt, and kids can add toppings like fruit, granola and chocolate chips.
The school also sells smoothie bowl meals, which include vegetables, fruits and grain – everything to make a full lunch, according to Tilot. The school offers about a dozen meal choices – many of which have dairy in them, Tilot said.
For the past three years, the school has also offered frozen yogurt. Their machine produces vanilla and another alternating flavor – everything from bubble gum to chocolate cake. The yogurt can also be served as a twist.
“The frozen yogurt is extremely popular,” Tilot said. “We don’t serve it in winter, but we’ll be bringing it back again this spring.”
More than 1,000 students in grades 9 through 12 attend West De Pere High School, which also began selling Fairlife milk in March.
“It’s so popular we can’t keep it stocked,” Tilot said. “It’s nice to see kids making that healthy choice at the vending machine.”
The 14-ounce milk bottles are available in white, strawberry and chocolate flavors and are also sold at Phantom Perks café.
Expanding their product selection has increased the school’s dairy consumption considerably while giving students healthy things to drink and eat. It is an effort that principal Russ Gerke finds crucial.
“I think we’re in a time where having options is very important to kids,” Gerke said. “They’re not looking for just one item; they’re looking for variety. Our team has done a good job of putting things out there, and the kids appreciate it. Some kids really rely on having a good breakfast and lunch at school, and this program helps students get their day off to a good start and maintain it throughout the day.”
Phantom Perks café is open for breakfast from 7-7:30 a.m. and again from 8:40-8:50 a.m. and during the two lunch periods that run between 10:05 a.m. and noon.
“If we’re not doing this, kids are going to drink a Mountain Dew or pick something else to eat,” Tilot said. “We’re giving them a lot of choices at Phantom Perks and Café West, and it’s great to see students choosing the healthy items. As a result, we’re increasing our milk consumption quite a bit.”